Three poachers arrested for rhino killings

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

DHEKIAJULI, April 16: Three persons  have been arrested for their alleged involvement in recent incidents of rhino poaching in Kaziranga tiol Park.

Police said three poachers  were arrested on Wednesday night at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district.Their interrogation is on and more arrests were expected, the police said.

Security forces had intensified operations in areas bordering Kaziranga tiol Park to b those involved in the killing of rhinos and removal of their horns.

Altogether nine  rhinos have been killed so far since January this year by poachers in Kaziranga tiol Park. In 2014, the poachers killed as many as 27 rhinos in the tiol park.

Kaziranga is home to a vast number of the famed and endangered species of wildlife in Assam state and these include the one-horned rhinos and tigers.

To protect the one-horned rhino, wildlife authorities in Assam have even deployed armed guards, but they have often proved ineffective before the organised gangs of poachers, who continue to strike down the rhinos.

Rhino horn is in great demand in Chi and Southeast Asia as it is believed to possess aphrodisiac qualities, which are used in traditiol medicines and allied concoctions.

It may be mentioned that Assam Forest Minister Atuwa Munda allegedly entered the Kaziranga tiol Park recently - a world heritage site famous for one-horned rhinos - with a firearm dangling from his waist, “violating” the wildlife act.